The Independence Party Unites

Lenora Fulani is one of those people who no one can find anything nice to say about, so small wonder that four politicians–Betsy Gotbaum, Alan Hevesi, Jerrold Nadler and Chris Quinn –have joined hands (and followed in Scott Stinger’s footsteps) to oppose $12.5 million in tax-free financing that the Bloomberg administration will consider at a public hearing tomorrow for a Fulani-affiliated nonprofit youth program, the All Stars Project. What makes this interesting is that Bloomberg has had trouble distancing himself from Fulani (“a virulent anti-Semite,” according to Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum) or her mentor Fred Newman (the “figurehead of a cult that sexually exploits women”), although he did cop 74,000 votes from the Independence Party last year, which was once led by her and in which she is still influential.